We were asking him for directions back to the harbor and he pointed us in the general direction. Whilst thanking him he then made the universal sign for tea whilst pointing to a small cottage 2 fields away.
Looking at each other for approval we agreed to join him for tea in the spirit of our wonderful adventure. It was a standalone remote, very spartan cottage. We were introduced to this boy’s mother. She served us the tea as we sat on a beautiful threadbare Turkish rug.
She tried to tell us (in sign language as embarrassingly none of us had picked up any of the Turkish language at this stage. We were obviously aiming to stick to our theme of ‘Gobshites on tour’) that she had 10 children and that how her youngest, who was sitting with us, had just been conscripted into the Turkish army.
He had some English and was able to explain what she was saying. Noticing my camera, she asked me if I would take a picture of him. Which I did. He asked if I could post the photo to the local post office as she had no photos of him. I was more than happy to oblige.
The next day we set sail. There was no wind and the engine began to make a funny sound. It got louder and louder. And eventually it exploded. Somebody noticed that the genny rope was torn and we guessed that it had wrapped itself around the rudder causing the engine to explode as we had been using it so much.
Myself and a friend put on our snorkel masks to get under the boat and assess the damage. There was a small boat in the hole or was there a small hole in the boat? We had been drinking……This is actually what I said when I surfaced and got back into the boat as I was in shock.
We had to be towed back to Marmaris once we radioed in our damage report. What a disaster. But thankfully we all lived to tell the tale. My next sailing trip will follow sailing lessons.
All the best
Stay fab
Adele
